VIENNA — Statin use in patients with hepatitis C virus and compensated
cirrhosis seems to offer a protective effect against death and
decompensation, according to a study presented at the 2015 International
Liver Congress.

“In compensated HCV cirrhosis, statin users
have a significantly lower incidence of decompensation and better
overall survival compared to statin non-users,” Arpan Mohanty, MD,
from Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn., said during her
presentation. “Risk of decompensation and death was reduced by over
40%.”

In this retrospective cohort study, Mohanty
and colleagues used the U.S. Department of Veterans HCV Clinical Case
Registry, and by doing so, she said all patients would have had an equal
opportunity to receive statins.